A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system can be used to control the environment of a building. For example, an HVAC system can be used to control the air temperature of different zones (e.g., rooms, areas, spaces, and/or floors) of a building.
A control system can be used to control an HVAC system of a building (e.g., the components of the HVAC system). For example, the control system may set and/or reset various set points of the HVAC system, such as, for instance, supply water, air temperature, and/or air speed, among others, depending on the conditions of the building, in order to keep the building (e.g., the zones of the building) in a comfort state. Such a control system can include, for example, a local controller for each zone of the building, and a supervisory controller that can control the local controllers.
In some previous approaches, an HVAC control system may determine whether the zones of the building are in a comfort state based on the temperature(s) of the zones. However, because zone temperature may be controlled by the local zone controllers, using zone temperature to determine comfort state can cause conflicts between the supervisory controller and the local zone controllers. Furthermore, for example, zone temperature may be insensitive to (e.g., remain constant over a broad range of), and/or have a nonlinear relationship, with set points of the HVAC system controlled by the supervisory controller. Further, in order to identify the relationship between zone temperature and the set points of the HVAC system controlled by the supervisory controller, an individual (e.g., occupant or operator) may have to enter the zone while the zone is not in a comfort state, which can cause discomfort for the individual.
Further, some currently deployed supervisory controllers may be difficult, costly, and/or time consuming to install and/or maintain, especially in the case of a large, multi-zone building with a complex HVAC system. For example, a qualified person (e.g., an expert) may be needed to install and/or test such previous supervisory controllers. Additionally, such previous supervisory controllers may not work within the existing infrastructure of the HVAC system, and accordingly may require a retrofitting of, and/or installation of additional equipment in, the HVAC system and/or building. Further, such previous supervisory controllers may have to control all of the local zone controllers (e.g., all of the zones of the building), which can increase the dimensionality of the supervisory controller.